Published May 19, 2025 at 8:56 PM MDT

When Darcy Anthony and Leslie Wood’s father was alive, they promised him they would do everything in their power to keep him in his home, rather than sending him to a nursing home or assisted living facility. They kept their promise, and now they are doing the same for their almost 93-year-old mother.

The sisters, who are in their 60s and live in New Castle, split caregiving responsibilities. Still, it’s a lot to handle. Anthony spends days with their mother while Wood, who still works full time, checks in on her every night and helps out on the weekends.

The work is endless: Cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, cooking dinner, walking and feeding the dogs, taking their mother to doctor’s appointments, helping her bathe.

“I'm pretty much doing everything around the house to help her out and to help her function,” said Wood.

Anthony and Wood were among the participants at a recent event organized by Garfield County for caregivers. The goal of the session was to help educate caregivers about the mental health challenges many of them face and offer some coping strategies, from breathing exercises to developing a strong support system.

In Colorado, as well as nationwide, caregiving duties and the mental health toll that comes with them fall primarily on women, who make up the majority of the state’s 600,000 informal caregivers. Research shows that caregiving often results in chronic stress, depression, compassion fatigue, and burnout, among other psychological impacts.

In her presentation at the event, mental health specialist Megan Hurley Backofen emphasized the importance of self-care for caregivers.

“It's normal to be stressed out. It's normal to be overwhelmed,” she said. “You have to find the ways to take care of yourself so that you can be showing up best for the others in your life that you're caring for.”

Still, many caregivers struggle to find any time for themselves, said Linda Byers, the program manager for Garfield County’s Older Adult Programs.

“A lot of times we have family caregivers who don't have access to respite,” she said, referring to the short term breaks that are critical for caregivers’ mental health.

Garfield County receives grant funding from the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Colorado as well as federal funding through Medicaid to help address the needs of caregivers, including offering short term relief—so caregivers can leave town if they need to or have lunch with a friend, for instance. But finding enough people willing to do care work has become increasingly challenging, said Byers.

Colorado has over 920 home healthcare agencies employing these workers, 44% of whom live below 200% of the federal poverty level (earning less than $36,000 if in a two-person household). Care workers also rarely have access to affordable benefits for themselves.

“Home care is what people call women’s work… That narrative has really hurt the work of home care. It’s work for low wages and low benefits and not much respect,” said Melissa Benjamin of Colorado Care Workers Unite (CCWU).

For Anthony and Wood, the past two years they’ve spent caring for their mother has had an emotional and financial strain. Unlike their father, who had access to financial support for veterans, their mother’s finances are not sufficient to hire any outside help. For Anthony, taking care of her mother has meant essentially delaying her retirement.

“That’s frustrating, she said. “I’m not getting any younger.”

She and her husband would like to do some traveling but at this point it seems unlikely.

After promising their father they would do everything in their power to keep him out of a facility, Wood said she’s no longer sure they’ll be able to do the same for their mother.

“It’s coming to the point with my mom that I don't see how we're going to be able to do that to the end.”